As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,826 to Engel et al., internal-combustion engines require air or oxygen for operation. This air is typically filtered through a filter arrangement before entering the air intake manifold of the engine. Conduit systems consisting of a number of separate conduits connected together in series are used to channel the air from the filter to the engine.
A conventional arrangement for a conduit system and for joints in a conventional conduit system are shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Referring to FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 generally designates a conventional conduit system providing for communication between an air filter assembly 3 and an air-intake manifold 4 of an engine. The positioning of the filter assembly 3 relative to the intake manifold 4 is intended to be representational only, and systems may vary.
Typically, the air filter assembly 3 has an exit port 7 thereon, through which air is directed into conduit system 1. Similarly, manifold 4 has a corresponding inlet port 8.
Very often, the exit port 7 and inlet port 8 are oriented skewed with respect to one another, and in different planes. This is suggested by FIG. 2. As a result, generally several conduit sections in series are necessary in order to provide air flow communication between the exit port 7 and the inlet port 8. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, these conduit sections are indicated at sections 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.
Adjacent conduit sections are connected at critical joints 15 by a clamping arrangement 20. One such conventional clamp 20 is shown in FIG. 3. Elongate tube 13 is shown having a circumferential bead 30 thereon. Hose 10 is sufficiently flexible so it can be forced over the bead 30. A conventional hose clamp 31 or the like, positioned around a portion 32 of hose 10 pushed over bead 30, provides for a relatively secure engagement.
Problems with the arrangement of FIGS. 2 and 3 are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,826. In brief, these include: 1) difficulty in assembling the systems in tight quarters; 2) stress or strain on various joints as conventional clamping arrangements are tightened about the joints; 3) air flow obstruction at the joint; 4) failure of the joint under extreme loads and over wide temperature variations and/or pressure fluxes. These problems are addressed by arrangements such as those shown in U.S. Ser. No. 07/484,161, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,826.
There remain, however, problems with these arrangements. For instance, the arrangement of 07/484,161 provides relatively little resistance to longitudinal or axial movement of adjacent conduit sections with respect to each other. Further, the clamping of the elastomeric seal member, about the portion of the member that creates the seal, results in stressing of the end of the outer tubular member around the seal, which ultimately may reduce the effective life of the joint. That is, because the outer member will be continually stressed under the clamp, it may tend to lose its resiliency and/or break, thereby detrimentally affecting the joint. Still further, the arrangements in these prior disclosures extend over a substantial axial length.
What has been needed is an arrangement which generally avoids the previous concerns and which is relatively easy to assemble and put into place. In particular, an arrangement has been needed that prevents longitudinal movement of adjacent conduits without unduly stressing the resilient seal member.